Here’s a story of some old fashioned Aussie persistence from the 2013 Drag Week event held in the United States. John Faraone and his crew from Perth shipped over their mega crazy 9.4 litre V8 turbocharged Valiant Charger to compete in the busy schedule and what must be one of the ultimate run what you brung street car events.
When you watch the video after the break you’ll see Faraone had his share of issues to overcome but by the end of the week he was all smiles.
[Thanks to John for the tip]
There’s a little bit too much talking in this video from Evo, but seeing as the subject matter is the truly awesome Ferrari F40 it’s worth listening to.
Henry Catchpole was asked by the Secret Supercar Owner to drive the F40 from Switzerland to the UK and naturally he jumped at the chance. Photographer Dean Smith tagged along and took some stunning pictures, too.
The roads covered look amazing and included the Susten Pass, the Furka Pass and the Grimsel Pass. Even with the F40 being a tough gig to drive this still would have been a remarkable day out.
[Thanks to Tiaan for the tip]
Awww, look at that Mk1 Mini. Even in that battered state it’s just delightful! It’s a Cooper, too. How can you not love that car. Imagine if it was restored into a condition that was even better that the day it rolled off the factory floor.
Thanks to the UK television series For the Love of Cars, produced by Channel 4, we don’t have to imagine what that Mk1 Cooper would look like in mint condition, because they’ve already done it for us!
There’s seven episodes in full and the series is currently airing here in Australia on the ABC. Six cars in total get some quality love and attention from Ant Anstead and his team, while Life on Mars star Philip Glenister breaks down the barrier between Gene Hunt and real life as the show’s host.
It’s a format we’ve seen before, most notably with Wheeler Dealers, but For the Love of Cars is more about the quality of the restoration than it is about making a quick buck. Sadly we don’t get an in-depth look at the restorations, but we do get a great reminder of what made these (mostly) British cars so great.
The classic cars restored during the series are listed below and the seventh episode shows the results of all the cars when sold at auction:
Of course, thanks to the wonder of the internetz you can see these episodes whenever you so choose (see below). We recommend you find the time to do so.
The best thing this show does is put a smile on your face; for the love of cars!
As good as BMW is at extracting performance from the engines it makes it is better at extracting money from its customers. So when you make yourself a new hero car, aka the F82 M4, it doesn’t make economic sense to put the best exhaust you have in your parts bin on the car at the factory.
No, it’s much better to ship the car with a crumby exhaust and then offer up a better one through your dealership network where customers have the privilege of paying you another several thousand dollars for the equipment that should have been on the car right from the start.
All that brings us to this amateur video footage of an M4 being driven by Chris Forsberg during a television commercial in the States. It was reportedly part of a new marketing campaign called M Initiation, which we will no doubt hear more about in good time.
Right now, though, you can hear the M4 with what is alleged to be BMW’s own aftermarket M Performance Exhaust system. Full technical details are yet to be confirmed and there’s talk the exhaust on this car may not match the final production parts. Speculation suggests the system will be made from titanium and be a full turbo-back with catalytic converters in the downpipes. Pricing is expected to be around the US$5000 region.
Whatever, it does sound pretty good.
[Source: Bimmerpost]
Clearly no longer members of the Flat Earth Society (yes, they do still exist), Porsche informs us the world is a curve and that we should go out and play.
They chose to do this by taking a Cayman GTS somewhere in Northern Italy, to a very cool go kart track, and having some fun.
That would have been a good working day for those involved in making this clip!
Frustrated that you can’t watch Rally Finland without a Foxtel account and want to get your WRC fix? Here’s some footage from 35 years ago that will remind you what rallying is all about. It’s from the 1979 Castrol International Rally, held in the forests around Canberra.
This is the home territory of your AUSmotive editor and while I usually stick to the tarmac when heading for the forests this is an area I know well.
Clearly, this was a simpler time when all you needed was a Ford Escort or a Datto 1600 (a Stanza if you were really fancy pants) and the balls to have a crack. T-shirts were the only attire needed behind the wheel and long sleeves only ever came out if it was raining. Even the pacenotes are low key.
Familiar names such as Greg Carr, George Fury, Kevin Bartlett and Colin Bond all feature and long-time motorsport fans from Australia will notice a relatively slim Will Hagon behind the mic on the victory dais.
A quick shoutout, too, for the Southern District Motorsport Association who played a key role in hosting the event and is still active today.
The clip runs for 50 minutes and if you set aside the time you should enjoy this.
[Thanks to Tim for the tip]
Evo magazine brings us another dream nomination for the world’s best driving road. It now seems we can forget everything we know on this subject and start setting our sights and sunglasses towards the Spanish island of Majorca.
Following up from the earlier nomination in Romania, Henry Catchpole grabs the keys to a Porsche Boxster GTS and starts chasing the rays and the twisting tarmac given to the world by Antonio Parietti Coll.
If nothing else, Majorca is a great place to flee one’s creditors. As it turns out, it’s also a pretty nice place to snap, crackle and pop in a Boxster GTS.
Imagine for a moment that Formula 1 has embraced the 21st century and makes onboard footage available for free online after each race. Well, you don’t have to imagine any more because thanks to French TV network Canal+ those days are almost here.
After the break you’ll get to see 30 minutes of highlights from the Hungarian Grand Prix. There’s no commentary, no ad breaks, just non-stop onboard footage, including Daniel’s march to victory. It’s totally awesome!
[Source: Canal+ | Thanks to Tom for the tip]
Riley Harper, Rhys Millen, Samuel Hübinette, Conrad Grunewald, Rich Rutherford and Dai Yoshihara are the guys who’ve been brought together to form BMW’s Epic Driftmob. A bunch of drifting champions hooligans, each given an M235i to play with and carte blanche on the streets of Cape Town.
You’ve already seen the finished article, so why not check out the behind the scenes clip. It’s also given us another excuse to post the full video once again. You can see those and more after the break.
Evo magazine has taken to the picturesque Anglesey Circuit with a brand new BMW M4 and pitched it against a Porsche 911 Carrera. The M4 (née M3) v 911 debate is one that’s been around for years now. Two cars that compete against each other in the minds of revheads even though they don’t really share the same market segment.
So which will come out trumps on the tight seaside track? Professional racer Marino Franchitti was on hand to find out. It’s worth paying attention to his steering wheel inputs when the in-car footage is compared too.
Oh, can you believe the 991 is now three years old!
Ever wanted to know how to drift a rear-wheel drive car? Take one Chris Harris, one BMW 235i, one heavy right foot and a video camera then watch and learn.
Once you’ve got all that under control you can then form an Epic Driftmob with your mates, close the streets of Cape Town in South Africa, and go totally nuts! Like, really, absolutely insane.
See for yourself after the break.
Chris Harris and his buddies from /DRIVE have just launched their paid YouTube channel /DRIVE+. It will run alongside the free channel we’ve come to know and love, as well as airing the program on NBC.
Harris has explained the move in detail via his PistonHeads blog. Here’s a snippet:
YouTube underwrote two years of DRIVE programming and I loved every minute of it. At the end of 2013 the funding ended and we had to look for ways to keep DRIVE alive…
Remember that rather lovely F40/F50 video we shot at Angelsey? It cost £9,000 to shoot, and despite amassing two million views, to date has grossed us just £4,800. The maths is pretty stark across the board – even the McLaren P1 video has racked up plenty of views, over 3.6 million in fact, but its total revenue is £9,200. That means we’re in profit, but only because it was an official launch event and Woking paid for mine and Neil’s flights, and JF who was second camera used his air miles to get from the US!
It’s a brave new world for online motoring content and while it’s a shame from the punter’s point of view that we have to pay for /DRIVE+ it is a reality I fully understand.
I’ve been running AUSmotive pretty much for the love of it for over six years now. If I didn’t have a full-time paying job I wouldn’t have that luxury. It’s very hard to make a buck in this space.
I wish Harris et al well and hope they’re able to continue providing some of the best motoring content our eyes and ears can enjoy.
There’s an explanatory video and teaser after the break. /DRIVE+ kicks off this week with Harris at the wheel of the LaFerrari.